Following a change in plans, Jake Jones picks up first career Hagerstown Speedway victory.

Sometimes a last minute change in plans causes major issues and headaches to all involved; sometimes it just turns what looks to be an inconvenience in an experience beyond imagination. The later was the case this past Saturday evening for Shermans Dale, Pennsylvania’s Jake Jones Racing as a last minute change in plans had the team returning to the Hagerstown Speedway where just 6 days before saw Jake charge from 18th to 5th on a slick daytime surface. The end result of the change in plans was that Jake led every circuit of the 20 lap feature to pick up his first career win at the Maryland half mile known at the Dirt Capitol.

Plans originally called for the team to unload their Miller’s Racing Parts, one race old Lazer Chassis closer to their home at the Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, but a snow storm left the area with 5” inches of snow the day before. With warmer temperatures, the race was originally scheduled to go on as planned but Lincoln officials made the decision late Saturday morning to cancel due to very wet grounds. That left Jake and the team the option to take the night off or head south to Hagerstown. In true racer form the team made a few changes to the car, loaded up, got the truck and trailer stuck in the snow leaving the shop and still arrived at the Maryland Speedway just prior to warm-ups. The rest of the night went smoothly as Jake led all 8 laps in his competitive heat race and then completed the sweep by fighting off numerous challengers during the many double file restarts to take the checkered flag in the action filled feature.

“We have won races at a lot of different tracks but Hagerstown is one I have wanted for a long time” said the 32 year old driver. “These guys down here are some of the best in our division and to beat them on their home turf makes it pretty special. There must have been some stuff going on behind me because every restart I lined up beside a different person it seemed. When Justin (Weaver) pulled up beside me I knew I had my hands full. I have raced the 2J at different tracks; he’s a great driver and always fun to race with. The track was a little dirty up top so I really concentrated on keeping my tire cleaned off under yellow. There late, I saw the 86 behind me on the scoreboard. (Scott) Palmer has a ton of laps around this place, but my Lazer chassis just worked perfect all night and I knew that if I kept choosing the outside on the restarts my car could beat them into one and I could carry my momentum. This is a brand new car we picked up late last year but never brought it out. Jim, Brandon and the whole staff at Lazer Chassis have built a great car. It handled outstanding last week and was actually even better this week. This area received the snow down here also, I want to thank Ernie and the Hagerstown staff for all the hard work in getting this speedway ready” stated Jones.

“Carl always said that he was just the monkey behind the wheel” laughed Jake remembering one of the area’s best racers Carl Billet who untimely passed away a couple of years ago. “I know exactly what he meant. I drove a car that was as perfect as I think I have ever had, my crew works tirelessly and sacrifices their time with family to allow me to participate in this sport we all love, my sponsors put their money and trust in me to represent them in the proper manner and my fans travel to wherever I am racing no matter what the distance is or the weather is like. I could not do this without any part of my team. Steph and the boys sacrifice a lot so we can race, I am not sure I want to call myself a monkey but I am very blessed with a great team” laughed Jones.

Plans are up in the air this weekend as Jake and the team would like to return to Hagerstown but his self owned Miller’s Racing Parts provides a lot of area speedways with parts trucks for their weekly events. Making sure his trucks are all covered and his tracks are serviced takes priority.

You can keep up-to-date on all current Jake Jones Racing news at his official home on the web: www.jakejonesracing.com. Also on check him out on Face Book and follow race day results on twitter @43JJR.